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Shoreham Fort

Newsletter

In this Issue:
Well I know they’re called ‘infrequent’ newsletters, but….

...can anyone remember the last one? lol :o)

We can only apologies for being so quiet. It has been so hectic 'behind the scenes' of the charity that the website and newsletter side of things have had to go on the back burner. I think we, as trustees, are all in agreement that there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Sorry!_tv_series_titles

Sharon Penfold, Secretary

So what have we been up to? – MHW 2016 - 4th ~ 5th June 2016

This year was our 7th annual event and it really does seem to be improving with age. The visitor numbers grew from the previous year and we had yet another spectacular group joining our event to help entertain the crowds.

Men of Empire are a Kent based group who joined us on the Saturday of our event. Their display was loud, interactive and the kids were well and truly engaged in their mass section attack on two 'willing' volunteers who just happened to be teachers...

The photos below were taken by Old Soldier Media who are a part of Rock2Recovery, who help veterans and serving members with PTSD. They have kindly given us permission to use them.

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There are many other photos which people have shared with us for this event so if you would like to view them, please visit our Shoreham Fort MHW 2016 page on Facebook

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This Sunday, 31st July, we had a visit from James Wingate of Santander, Shoreham. With him he brought a very large cheque which he presented us...

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The reason being that Santander agreed to match fund our mini airsoft for this year's military history weekend. The range was run by Jimbo and his team from Elite Action Games, Worthing and, as always, was a very successful addition to our event.

We really cannot thank Santander and Elite Action Games enough for their support and financial contribution. The match funded amount will be put towards the rather large cost of the special MoD paint we need to finish off the Nissen Hut.

Its hard to believe that the Nissen hut has been there for two years now. It really has made such a huge difference to the charity by not only enabling us to display permanent information about the fort's history and our wonderful models, it has also enabled us to have an indoor education room and, as it is fitted with a surround sound system, projector and blu-ray system, it means that we can do presentations and workshops on site too.

Most importantly though, for the volunteers that are on site whatever the weather, not only does it mean they have somewhere secure to store their personal belonging when they are with us but it also means that there is somewhere dry for them to go should the weather turn bad. Its great that we have been able to carry on with our make do and mend theory too as by rescuing Chidham's history and restoring our WWII history we have actually saved the charity thousands of pounds by not needing to go down the road of a purpose built modern box, with no historical significance, which would have the same purpose.

If all that's not good enough, the discovery and confirmation that we actually have WWI internal Nissen hut sections was just the icing on the cake... It is so apt that it was erected in the centenary years of WWI. It is such a shame that those 100 years old walls can't talk

Coastal Revival Fund update...

It doesn't seem possible that it was 8 months ago that we shared the fantastic news that we had been awarded the full application amount for the Coastal Revival Fund application.

It's always frustrating how long these things take to 'dot the I's and cross the T's' but we can confirm that the tender was awarded in April, paperwork and contracts were finalised via the local authority at the end of June and work has well and truly started on this exciting phase in Shoreham Fort's furture.

We've had a number of meetings with the consultant, architect and structural engineer and we are very confident that their work will be a huge asset to the charity and it's aims for the way forward.

Environment Agency - Tidal Wall Scheme update

Wow - What a headache this truly has been.

People seem to forget that we are in fact all volunteers who have the collective desire to see that Shoreham Fort is looked after and conserved for generations to come.

We don't get paid for any meetings/consultations/documents we have been involved with and we have been bashing our heads against the 'Tidal' wall for what must be coming on for 2 years now. Hopefully we are in a position to relax a little now and have faith that the revised proposals are not going to be detrimental to the fort in any way. You wouldn't believe the issues we have had to address but its been a real eyeopener as to what a 'landscape architect' thinks is suitable for a Scheduled Ancient Monument and its surrounding area.

Work is due to start imminently on Riverside Road, Ferry Bridge and the southern end of the Old Railway Reach. Beach Green car park is being used for the site offices so there will have already been activity there no doubt. The links below are a few we have found to hopefully help keep you informed.

Video - Please note that this video was published in October 2015 and there have been design changes to our car park since then. With this in mind it is very likely that there have been other changes made to other areas too. This is just an artists impression and in their own words "The design is indicative and is subject to change."

Dedicated Website

Flickr

Twitter

Heritage Lottery Projects

We have been involved in several Heritage Lottery projects now and the best ones by far have been the ones which have involved the amazing Creative Waves Community Arts. Nadia and Nessy are an absolute pleasure to work with and their energy and passion is truly inspiring.

The Post to the Coast project incorporates a coastal trail from Shoreham Fort to Worthing Lido and along the way you will discover postcard inspired designs which pupils from the schools across Adur and Worthing have been recreated in many different styles, using many different materials. The project was launched in the Southern Pavillion of Worthing Pier and just recently we had an event at Shoreham Fort to mark the end of the project. The coastal trail isn't being removed yet though and the exhibition of artwork will stay on Worthing Pier until next year. Do check out their website to see what fantastic projects they have been involved in.

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The latest Heritage Lottery project we were involved with was a Worthing WOW project, 120 Years of Film in Sussex. Seeing as Shoreham Fort played such a significant role in the early film industry in Sussex it seemed only right that we get involved. We had several elements that we were responsible for and two really stand out.

Firstly, were able to redesign, correct and replace the missing information panel off the Church of the Good Shepherd (COGS) Hall which details a brief history of the film industry and now ties the two ends of the beach together nicely. Something that we have been planning to do for a number of years and funding from this project enabled it to happen.

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Secondly, which was by far the most significant element for us, was the recreation of one of the canvas back drops that was painted for the film 'A Showman's Dream'. This is a project which the Friends of Shoreham Fort have been planning for many, many years and we were once again able to work with Nadia and Nessy from Creative Waves to make it happen. Without their skill and enormous generosity with their time this project wouldn't have been possible within budget but what can we say... They really did us proud and we cannot thank them enough!

The canvas backdrop was up at MHW 2106 and the brilliant Jon and Sofe from BlueDawg Entertainments were there photographing our visitors on the red carpet in front of it but the canvas was officially unveiled, along with the information panel for COGS, at the screening of A Lowland Cinderella in the Nissen Hut. A brilliant evening with BlueDawg and their red carpet once again in attendance.

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Have I made up for such a long period of quiet?

I do hope so :)

All that is left for me to say is...

Keep an eye on the website and our Facebook page for notification of our open days and events.

Come and see us on a volunteer day, next one 14th August.

Visit our next event which is part of the national Heritage Open Days campaign the weekend of 10th ~ 11th September.

And finally, don't forget to spread the word to all you know.

Join us...

Want to help?

We're always in need of equipment, tools, and items at the fort... here's a few things on our wish list:

  • Projector

    Purchased with funding raised through a week of community fundraising in Shoreham Branch

    A big THANK-YOU to Santander for their donation!

  • Doors for Food for Fort and Nissen Hut

    A big THANK-YOU to Vevo Vision for their donation!

  • Sponsors

    We have four main events of the year, the biggest being our Military History Weekend - Sponsors of any of our events would be very welcome - please contact us at secretary@shorehamfort.co.uk

  • Expertise

    Bid writers / Architects / Fundraisers

  • Hand tools

    We are getting to the end of the useful life of our trowels, hand garden forks and equipment that we use for carefully weeding around the Scheduled Monument. Any small hand tools would be gratefully received.

  • Barrack Block

    That would be really lovely........ We are working on it ;)

  • My Cloud Mirror Drive

    Purchased with thanks to Shoreham and Southwick Rotary who we help when we can with book donations and especially at Christmas with our very own version of Elf and Safety lol Thank you for your continued support

    A big THANK-YOU to Rotary Club of Shoreham & Southwick for their donation!

  • Renewal of IT/presentation equipment

    With a partial award for an application to Sussex Community Foundation we have been able to increase our outreach and education programme; therefore increasing word of mouth of our project and engaging the wider community in a positive and proactive manner.

    A big THANK-YOU to Sussex Community Foundation for their donation!

  • Volunteers

    People are genuinely surprised when we tell them how few volunteers we have that come on site on a regular basis to help maintain and conserve the site for the enjoyment of the public. If you think you would like to get involved with this amazing project then please do get in touch via enquiries@shorehamfort.co.uk or come down on one of our volunteer days. It may look like it\'s all hard, manual work but there really is a job for all.

If you're able to help, or have contact with someone who can, then please let us know

Research

Do you recognise one of these names? Perhaps a family member or friends family?

  • S.Payne
  • J.Newberry
  • H.W.Higgins

Let us know - They might be connected to the 1st Sussex Artillery Volunteers who were based at Shoreham. Any information is greatly appreciated.

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